The Toronto stock market was higher Wednesday amid another heavy slate of earnings news and hopes that the European Central Bank will cut interest rates to help a weak economy recover.
The S&P/TSX composite index greeted noon up 18.86 points early Wednesday to 13,380.57
The Canadian dollar was positive 0.29 cents at 95.95 cents U.S.
On the earnings front, autoparts company Magna International's quarterly revenue was up 13% to $8.3 billion U.S. However, net income fell from last year, dropping to $319 million U.S. or $1.39 per diluted share from $390 million a year ago amid restructuring charges. The results beat beat analyst expectations and its shares rose $1.03 to $90.01.
Oil and gas producer Talisman Energy Inc. posted a $45-million U.S. loss from operations, or four cents per share, in the three months ending Sept. 30. That's up from a loss $36 million or four cents per share a year earlier. Its shares added a penny to $12.83.
Media giant Torstar Corp. posted a quarterly net loss of $70.8 million or 89 cents, compared to a profit of $11.1 million or 14 cents a share a year ago.
The owner of the Toronto Star newspaper, Harlequin books and other publishing businesses, says a writedown of some of its media assets resulted in an $85.4 million impairment charge that reduced operating earnings by $1.06 per share. It met expectations of 21 cents a share for adjusted earnings and its shares dipped 17 cents to $5.61.
On Tuesday after the close, fertilizer giant Agrium Inc. said quarterly net earnings were $76-million, or 52 cents per diluted share, compared with $129-million or 80 cents a year ago. Sales revenue increased a modest one per cent to $2.87 billion U.S. and its shares fell $1.33 to $89.99.
Among gold plays, Kinross Gold gained six cents to $5.24.
The base metals sector gained almost one per cent while December copper added a penny to $3.27 U.S. Teck Resources was ahead 34 cents to $29.05.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that building permits in Canada moved up 1.7% in September to $6.5 billion, the seventh monthly advance since the beginning of the year.
Western University’s Ivey Purchasing Managers Index for October stood at 62.8. The corresponding Ivey PMI figure for September 2013 was 51.9, for October 2012, 58.3 and for October 2011, 54.4.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 1.55 points to 946.91
Of the 10 TSX subgroups, six were higher, led by a 0.4% gain in consumer discretionary stocks, while materials and financials each moved ahead 0.3%.
The four laggards were weighed by health-care, down 1.3%, while information technology stocks suffered 0.3%, and energy stocks fell 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
The Dow rose to an all-time high Wednesday as investors focused on mostly solid corporate earnings.
The Dow Jones Industrials tacked on 95.20 points to stop for lunch at 15,713.40
The Dow surpassed its previous record high from last week. Microsoft and Chevron were the best performing blue-chips in the Dow 30. Only Intel, Nike and Home Depot were lower.
The S&P 500 index gained 4.34 points to 1,767.31. The NASDAQ dipped 10.29 points to 3,929.58
Health insurer Humana reported better than expected earnings before the bell.
Time Warner topped earnings forecasts and reaffirmed its guidance for the year.
Of the 374 companies in the S&P 500 that have reported earnings so far, 69% have topped analysts' expectations, according to S&P Capital IQ.
But Tesla shares plunged after the electric car maker's third-quarter results were not as strong as investors were hoping for.
Shares of teen apparel retailer Abercrombie & Fitch tumbled nearly 7% after the company warned of weak sales and said it was closing its lingerie chain Gilly Hicks.
CBS, Whole Foods and SolarCity are due to report earnings after the closing bell.
Investors will also keep tabs on Twitter once the market closes. The social media site, which has more than 230 million users, is widely expected to price its initial public offering this evening and begin trading on Thursday.
The IPO market has been booming as stocks trade near all-time highs. The S&P 500 has gained 24% so far this year, extending a bull market that started in March 2009.
Barracuda Networks, which provides cloud computing and network security services, priced its IPO at $18 U.S. a share, the low end of its price range. But the stock jumped 26% to nearly $23 U.S. a share in early trading. Avianca Holdings and Arc Logistics Partners also went public Wednesday.
Looking ahead to the rest of the week, investors are awaiting the U.S. October jobs report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The report, due out Friday morning, has a strong influence on market sentiment.
Investors are zeroing in on the economy as they attempt to gauge when the Federal Reserve will begin to slow the pace of its $85-billion-U.S.-per month stimulus program.
Prices for the 10-year U.S. Treasury nicked up, lowering yields to 2.65% from Tuesday’s 2.66%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices gained 78 cents to $94.15 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices picked up $10.40 to $1,318.50 U.S. an ounce.
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